Delhi fourth most dangerous city in world for woman to take public transport: poll

New Delhi: New Delhi has one of the most dangerous public transport systems in the world when it comes to women’s safety, according to the findings of a recent poll.

Out of 16 cities that were surveyed, New Delhi was found to have the fourth most unsafe public transport, behind only Bogota (Colombia), Mexico City and Lima (Peru), according to the poll conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation, the corporate charity of news and information provider Thomson Reuters, in collaboration with UK-based polling company YouGov.

The poll assessed the transport systems of 15 of the world’s largest capitals, as defined by the United Nations, and New York, the most populous city in the US.

The best city for a woman to take public transport was found to be New York, followed by Tokyo and Beijing. By public transport, the poll means travelling on a bus, tram, metro or train or being at a station relating to one of these modes of transport.

More than three years after the horrific 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder of a young physiotherapy student that resulted in nationwide protests, women in the national capital continue to feel unsafe, and constantly under the risk of being verbally harassed by men or groped in public transport. They still are apprehensive about travelling alone at night, the poll found.

More than 6,500 women were polled in the 16 cities, to assess the level of harassment, violence and intimidation faced by women on a daily basis. Per city, 380 to 513 people were interviewed – both women as well as experts focused on women’s rights, gender equality, urban planning and gender-friendly urban spaces. And all respondents were women aged 18+ or above, living in the cities on which they were polled.